Elon Musk, AI Startups, and The Case of The Allegedly Lacking Commerce Secrets and techniques

A second lawsuit filed by a synthetic intelligence firm alleging a former worker stole commerce secrets and techniques has been filed in California, simply days after Elon Musk’s xAI alleged it had recently experienced company espionage.

On this case, Scale AI, a number one AI data-labeling agency, sued competitor Mercor Inc. in federal court docket Wednesday, accusing the startup and a former worker of misappropriating commerce secrets and techniques to win new enterprise.

Scale is valued at roughly $29 billion following an enormous $15 billion Meta funding.

The allegations

The lawsuit, filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Northern District of California, targets Eugene Ling, Scale’s former head of engagement administration, and his new employer, Mercor.

The case is Scale AI Inc. v. Mercor.io Company, 25-cv-07402.

In its court docket submitting, Scale alleges Ling downloaded over 100 confidential paperwork, together with proprietary buyer technique supplies and product data, to a private Google Drive whereas nonetheless employed on the firm and after assembly with Mercor’s CEO.

In accordance with the grievance, Ling then contacted considered one of Scale’s prime purchasers, known as “Buyer A,” on behalf of Mercor whereas nonetheless at Scale, even arranging calls to pitch Mercor’s providers. The lawsuit claims this effort was an try to steal enterprise price “hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.”

Makes an attempt to achieve Ling’s legal professional have been unsuccessful. However on his social media, Ling posted that he “by no means used” any of the Scale recordsdata and is “nonetheless ready for steerage on learn how to resolve this.”

“I simply wished to say that there actually was no nefarious intent right here,” he wrote. “I’m actually sorry to my new workforce at Mercor for having to cope with this.”

Mercor’s response

Mercor co-founder Surya Midha denied any misuse of Scale’s mental property, stating that whereas a number of former Scale staff have joined Mercor, the 2 corporations function below “deliberately completely different” methods. He added that Mercor is investigating the matter and had provided to have Ling delete any paperwork in his possession.

“Whereas Mercor has employed many individuals who departed Scale, we’ve got little interest in any of Scale’s commerce secrets and techniques and in reality are deliberately operating our enterprise another way,” Midha said in a statement.

“Eugene knowledgeable us that he had previous paperwork in a private Google Drive, which we’ve got by no means accessed and are actually investigating,” it reads. “We reached out to Scale six days in the past providing to have Eugene destroy the recordsdata or attain a special decision, and we are actually awaiting their response.”

Scale, in flip, argues that ordering Ling to destroy the recordsdata would get rid of essential proof. The corporate is in search of damages, authorized charges, an injunction barring Mercor from utilizing the stolen materials, and the return of all misappropriated paperwork.

Scale’s authorized transfer is one other pace bump for a turbulent interval for the corporate, which has lately skilled Meta’s huge funding, the hiring of Scale’s CEO Alexandr Wang by Meta, and a 14% workforce discount.

Cutthroat competitors involves the courts

The case is a glimpse into the fiercely aggressive nature of the AI sector, the place mental property—significantly knowledge technique and buyer relationships—is the important thing to market dominance. The state of affairs mirrors another recent trade secret lawsuit, when Elon Musk’s xAI sued a former engineer for allegedly stealing confidential data on his technique to a rival.

In that case, Musk’s firm is alleging Zhihao “Zack” Li stole confidential recordsdata tied to the event of Grok, the corporate’s chatbot, earlier than departing for rival OpenAI.

The grievance, filed in California state court docket, accuses Li, who joined xAI final yr as an engineer, of copying proprietary supplies in July 2025 shortly after agreeing to take a job at OpenAI. Courtroom filings say Li additionally bought $7 million price of vested xAI inventory forward of his departure.

In accordance with the lawsuit, Li admitted throughout an inner assembly on Aug. 14 that he had taken delicate paperwork, although xAI alleges he tried to “cowl his tracks” by deleting recordsdata. Forensic checks later uncovered further supplies nonetheless saved on his gadgets, the corporate alleges.

Musk’s startup argues that the stolen data might permit OpenAI to boost ChatGPT with what it describes as xAI’s “extra revolutionary AI and imaginative options.”

That case is xAI Corp v. Xuechen Li, U.S. District Courtroom, Northern District of California, No. 3:25-cv-07292-RFL

What are the broader implications?

For buyers and the AI business typically, the lawsuit highlights two key dangers.

Firstly, the theft of extremely complicated and coveted mental property, and even the looks of it, can quickly alter aggressive positioning in a market the place belief and proprietary knowledge are foreign money. Secondly, it alerts that AI startups could more and more flip to authorized avenues to implement boundaries and defend their turf.

As AI turns into part of a lot of the know-how we see and use on a regular basis, the businesses that make it are going to grow to be much more fiercely protecting of their merchandise and types. The worth of proprietary knowledge and consumer relationships makes authorized safety, and the precedents set by means of lawsuits like this, the subsequent frontier for firms seeking to safeguard their instruments and reputations.

“Scale has grow to be the business chief on the energy of our concepts, innovation, and execution,” Joe Osborne, a spokesperson for Scale, mentioned in a press release. “We received’t permit anybody to take illegal shortcuts on the expense of our enterprise.”